The noise was deafening as Giordano scored the winner of extra time for a 5-4 victory over the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday night. “It was a very good audience for us tonight,” said Giordano. “I thought there were a lot of Leaf fans in the building. Really good atmosphere – I’ve noticed that since I’ve been here, the atmosphere in tall buildings. It’s great to know that wherever you play, you know you’ll have that good buzz in the building. ” Giordano was a nice addition to the Leafs and his teammates appreciate everything he has to offer. “I think he’s a huge part of our team,” said Michael Bunting, who had one goal and one assist. “He is a veteran and he came in and had that veteran present immediately. He was captain for a long time in Calgary and then captain in Seattle. He carries (himself) like that. “He’s a great player and a great guy on the ice, and he’s playing incredibly for us right now.” Ottawa had the biggest crowd of the season, but the majority of the 18,655 in attendance at the Canadian Tire Center cheered for the Leafs. The Blue and Whites had a lot to cheer for as Mitchell Marner scored twice with Kyle Clifford also scoring for Toronto (49-20-6). Eric Calgren stopped 25 shots. Tim Stutzle continues to impress in his second season, as the 20-year-old scored twice to reach 20 goals for the first time. Stutzle has six goals and seven assists in his last eight games. He almost won it in overtime, but Calgren managed to make the save. “It continues to improve,” said Senators coach DJ Smith. “He plays against the best in the league and does not back down. Again, he may be the best player out there, he is one of them. “There are definitely some top players out there, but Timmy is really coming.” Michael Del Zoto and Dylan Gabriel also played in Ottawa (28-40-7). Anton Forsberg made 36 saves. Stutzle broke the 3-3 draw in the sixth minute of the third, taking advantage of a terrific gift from Ilya lyubushkin to bury his 20th of the season. Stutzle admitted that he enjoyed the challenge of playing the high-octane Leafs. “(Auston) Matthews and Marner are some of the best players in the league, so these are guys I like to watch every night and watch the highlights every time and they play so many nice games together and they play with so much confidence,” he said. Stutzle. . “These are two guys I try to shape my game and playing against them I think gives me a huge boost.” The Leafs started at a slow pace, but more than made up for it when they counted. Marner made it 4-4, scoring his second in the middle of the season. “We did not go out as we would have liked,” Marner admitted. “We knew they would come quickly against us and try to get close to us. They did a good job at it, but I thought that in the second and third seasons there we just took over and played the game we needed. And we got the result we wanted. ” After 2-0 to start the second, the Leafs returned to equalize 3-3 after 40 minutes. Clifford opened the scoring in the box for Toronto as he chased Justin Hall’s shot for his first of the season. Ottawa took a 3-1 lead in the middle of the second half as Austin Watson fired a shot into the motion and Gabrel passed Calgren. The assist gave Watson his 100th career point in his 400th NHL game. “When you really take a moment to think about it, it’s very emotional for me,” Watson admitted. “This game has given me a life I do not know if I deserve, but I’m here anyway. I can not thank the Nashville Predators, the Ottawa Senators and the league enough because, you know, they allowed me to make my dreams come true, but also to take care of life outside the game. So I’m very grateful today. ” Despite the end, the Leafs never seemed to worry that they could regain control. “I thought for a while that we were out of work and we competed,” said Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. “From the moment they made it 3-1, however, I thought our kids really started coming into the game from that point on and we were very good.” Toronto made a game with a goal just over a minute later as Badding was able to win a close-up shot and Marner equalized at the end of the season as he once owed TJ Brodie a pass from the top of the circle. . . The senators could not have asked for a better start, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first period. In a two-on-zero rush, Brady Tkachuk passed the elf to Stutzle through the box, who once headed home to open the scoring. Del Zoto made it 2-0 at the end of the season with a shot from the blue line that popped over Timothy Liliegren and inside. NOTES: Colin White of Ottawa was placed in COVID-19 protocol before the match, forcing defender Victor Mete to play, but as a striker M Mathieu Joseph remains out of the squad and may not be able to return until the end of the season. This Canadian Press report was first published on April 16, 2022.
